Just as Pharoh Cooper was explaining the intricacies of fielding NFL kickoffs — spoiler alert, it’s more involved than one might imagine — Rams running back Todd Gurley came up behind him and let out a loud, long roar.

“Come on man, it’s a kickoff return!” Gurley screamed, laughing. “All you gotta do is run one way and then run the other! How hard can it be?”

Cooper shook his head and flashed a good natured, albeit frustrated, grin. This wasn’t the first time he had to set someone straight about the sneaky complex world of kickoff returns. And it probably won’t be the last.

Superstar teammate or not.

“Nah man, no it ain’t,” Cooper shot back as Gurley continued his rant.

Of course Gurley knows better. He was just giving Cooper the business. But in doing so, he inadvertently shed light on the lack of understanding and appreciation we sometimes have for a slice of the game that’s often taken for granted. And in some cases misunderstood.

Now more than ever with the NFL changing rules over the years to severely limit — or highly discourage — kickoff returners from actually attempting a return.

Back in 2010 the NFL moved kickoffs from the 30 to the 35-yard-line hoping it resulted in more touchbacks. It was the NFL’s way of mitigating the dangerous, high-speed collisions that occur when 11 kickoff coverage players run full-speed up the field and smash into the 10 kick return blockers hoping to spring their return man.

The plan worked, as the percentage of kickoffs returned fell from 80.1 percent prior to the rule change to 41.1 percent in 2015.

But the league wasn’t satisfied with four out of every 10 kickoffs being returned, so in 2016 the NFL’s competition committee took it a step further by adding five more yards to where the receiving team got the ball after a touchback. Rather than getting the ball at the 20, they got it at the 25.

The extra five yards is a pretty good incentive to make players think twice about returning kicks out of the end zone, reflected in the percentage of kickoff returns falling to 38.4 percent this year.

The result is a bit of a cat-and-mouse game as kickoff teams try to dare returners to take kicks out of the end zone in the hope of tackling them before the 25-yard line.

All of which makes what Cooper’s done this year all the more important for the Rams.

Not just his return ability — he’s second in the NFL with a 30.2-yard return average, including a 103-yard touchdown and a 66-yard return — but also his aggressiveness in taking kicks out of the end zone rather than settling for a touchback.

Cooper has been kicked to 45 times and has opted to return 24 of them, resulting in a 53.3 return rate percentage that towers over the league average of 38.4 percent.

Not coincidentally, the Rams have an NFL-best starting field position average of 27.7 after kickoffs.

“Obviously it ends with me, but it starts with the entire special teams unit,” Cooper said. “My job on the kickoff is to make the right decision on whether to take it out or stay. The ultimate goal is to get it out beyond the 25. Anything less is not a good return. But if I can get it to the 25 or beyond, I’ve helped get the offense better field position.”

He’s also averaging 10.4 yards on 14 punt returns after taking over that duty from Tavon Austin. The punt return average – and just one fumble – is in line with the Rams two primary return objectives.

“Take care of the ball, first and foremost,” said Rams special teams coach John Fassel. “And then go get us a first down.”

As a kickoff and punt returner, Cooper has developed into an asset.

“He’s done a great job,” said Rams coach Sean McVay. “You look at the confidence he has. The consistency catching the ball. You see why, when the ball’s in his hands that’s why you liked him so much coming out of South Carolina. He’s creative, he’s strong, but he’s also elusive.”

Not that McVay’s stomach isn’t doing flip flops sometimes when Cooper takes off running out of the end zone when simply taking the touchback would set the Rams up at the 25 yard-line.

As he did when Cooper opted for the return upon collecting the ball three yards deep into the end zone against the Jaguars last month.

“I was like: ‘Stay in. Stay in,’ ” McVay remembers.

Only to watch Cooper take it to the house on a 103-yard touchdown return.

“It was like, oh no, oh no. Oh…good decision to go,” McVay said.

Welcome to the new world of kickoff returns, where walking the fine line separating prudence and confidence is now the norm.

Cooper, a second-year wide receiver from South Carolina, doesn’t lack in the former but has an abundance of the later. Hence his league-leading 20 kickoff returns in an era when more and more players are opting for the touchback. Either the result of their own judgement or the philosophical preference of their coaching staff.

“For me, there’s no hesitation,” Cooper said. “When I decide to go, it’s go. If I stay, I stay. There’s not starting and stopping. No hesitation at all.”

It’s a mindset cultivated by strong study habits and the blessing of Fassel, whose confidence in Cooper has empowered his special teams ace to be decisive.

“He works hard at studying the opposing kickers on his own time. He’s not out there like a loose cannon saying “oh whatever’ He puts the time in. And that’s reflected in his decision making.”

Cooper focus on three factors in deciding whether to return a kick from the end zone:

Distance of the kick. Direction of the kick. And hang time of the kick.

“When the ball’s in the air, his focus is on the ball,” Fassel explained. “But he starts at a place where he knows where, if I back up I need to stay. If it’s in front of me I can probably go. That’s forward to backward. But there’s also side to side on decisions as well.”

And it’s a decision he has to make in a matter of seconds.

“Once the ball is kicked, I’m four to five yards deep, so usually I know based on where the ball is kicked and where I am in the end zone, whether I’m going or not,” Cooper said. “There’s no hesitation. But depending on where the ball is kicked, if I’m staying I’m staying, and if I’m going I’m going. There’s no starting deep, then coming out and then stopping. I’m never going to do that. It’s either go or stay.”

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.